It Gets Better
by thatgirlwiththebooks
Summary: From the anon meme. Nathan and Pao-Lin are asked to do commercials for Sternbild's "It Gets Better" project. They tell their stories of how they were treated at home for being 'strange' and just how, exactly, they got their powers. Hints of Ivan/Pao-Lin


This is an older fill I did on the T&B anon meme a little while ago. The prompt was to write a fic based off of the "It Gets Better" commercials, and the heroes I immediately thought of were the flamboyant Nathan and the tomboyish Pao-Lin, two of my favorite secondary characters. I hope you enjoy it

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><p>Nathan took his spot in front of the camera, dressed in his bright red outfit, with the cape that appeared to be made of fire itself fanning out behind him. A makeup artist appeared next to him, offering a touchup of his favorite shade of lipstick. He thought about the audience he was trying to talk to, how they would already be intimidated by the magnitude of his hero costume, and waved her away.<p>

He looked over at Karina and Pao-Lin, the darling young girls, sitting off to the side. From an objective stance, he just appeared to be a sassy gay friend, but he knew what he was to the two girls. To Karina, he was a best friend she could talk about anything with, and to Pao-Lin he was a protective uncle who tried to save her from her own insecurity. 'We love you,' they mouthed. It'd been their idea for him to do this commercial.

"Are you ready, Mr. Emblem?" the director asked. Nathan nodded, and the young man called out for quiet on the set, signaling for the cameramen to focus in on Nathan. He hardly heard the director shout 'take one' before words started pouring out of his mouth.

"I've always known I was gay. I didn't really think it was anything worth mentioning. Nobody asks a little kid about his sexual preferences, so I was safe then. My mother figured out I was gay when I asked her for Lion Boy's poster for my twelfth birthday instead of Lady War's. I didn't think. She told me that I'd better get those thoughts out of my head before my dad found out, and that I'd be getting Lady War," he said, feeling the jolt in his stomach as he remembered the angry, disappointed look in his mother's eyes when she first realized that she didn't have a 'normal' son.

He took a deep breath and continued, "Things weren't good at school either. I mean, nobody really liked the flamboyant black boy with pink hair. People call me brave for being so comfortable with myself. I wasn't comfortable, though, I couldn't act like a 'straight boy.' I felt dirty every time I tried. I felt like a liar." His words caught in the back of his throat, and he stopped to clear them away. "Sorry. I got my powers when I was seventeen. I'd just kissed my first 'date' and set a nearby tree on fire. He screamed and ran, called me a freak of nature, called me disgusting for 'tricking' him into kissing me. It killed me." Off camera, he heard one of the girls, most likely Karina, choke back a sob.

"I thought for sure things wouldn't get better for me. I was a poor, gay black kid with no friends and definitely no boyfriend. Nothing seemed to be going right, especially since the next time my powers went off, at school, I was sent to the police. But then I got a call from Hero TV. They wanted to know if I was interested in working, that Helios Energy wanted a 'fiery' hero. I hesitated. I knew that heroes ended up injured, some dead, but I also knew that it couldn't get worse. I took the first paycheck that Helios gave me and bought a share of stocks. I bought more every time. I own the company now. My parents threw me out after they found out I was a NEXT, but I still sent them money. I wanted them to know that even if they wouldn't take care of me, I'd take care of them."

"I still get homophobic remarks and people sending me letters full of death threats. Those haven't gone away. But my life...it's gotten so much better. The other heroes knew what it was like to get crap for being different. Look," he said, laughing and forcing himself not to blink, for he'd never cried in front of a camera before and this wouldn't be his first time, "I know not everyone can work as a hero. I'm just saying that things get better. You will find people who love you no matter what color you are, who don't care what sex you like. And then, everything will change. You'll know happiness someday. It gets better. I promise."

Nathan didn't hear the director say cut, he just looked over at Pao-Lin and Karina, both of whom smiled at him through their tears. When the director signaled for him to exit so they could review the footage, he hurried over to his girls and gave them a gigantic hug. It swept both of them off of their feet.

_I was right,_ he thought as he looked down at Karina's happy face and felt Pao-Lin bury her face into his shoulder, _It does get better._

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><p>Pao-Lin wasn't gay, despite her short hair, tomboyish clothes, and strong muscle. That hadn't stopped people from teasing her about it for as long as she could remember. Pao-Lin remembered at home, boys following her as she walked home from school, teasing her for lacking curves, taunting her for never wearing skirts or acting feminine.<p>

She'd wondered if the torment had been the reason behind the early development of her powers. A defense mechanism. She'd almost electrocuted a boy into a coma after he grabbed onto her slender hips, stating that he'd be able to cute her supposed lesbianism.

Hero TV had learned of the marketable girl with the powers of electricity, and asked if she wished to work in Sternbild city. She hadn't hesitated to take the offer, and never once looked back to the people she'd left behind, other than her parents.

Now she sat on a stage, in her Dragon Kid outfit. She'd managed to convince her sponsors into changing some of the more ridiculous aspects of her outfit, slimming her pants and ditching the obnoxious headdress. Sitting in front of the camera, with the green wig tickling her back, she realized how far she'd come from home.

Karina and Nathan sat to the side, of course, and Ivan had tagged along. He sat awkwardly next to them, trying to make conversation. Every now and then his eyes would flicker up to look at her. She felt naked onstage, vulnerable, and she didn't know what to make of it.

"Miss Dragon Kid?" the director asked.

"Uh, yes. I'm ready." She looked straight into the camera. The quick crack of the clapper signaled her to begin talking.

"Ah...I'm not gay," she stuttered, realizing what a horrible opening what it was, "But that doesn't mean that homophobia doesn't affect me. I haven't always been Dragon Kid, the 'kill-stealer'. Back home I was called a little dyke, not because of how I acted, but because of how I looked. I didn't kiss girls, I didn't flirt, I didn't really talk to anyone because I was shy and scared of what would happen if I did. You wouldn't think short hair and baggy clothes could attract so much attention. Many of my fellow heroes discovered their power when they had a first kiss, or needed to save someone...I got mine because a guy thought he could try to 'get rid of my dyke side.'" Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw Ivan tense up, and she definitely heard Nathan mutter swears. Karina's breath hitched.

"He didn't even get a hand under my shirt because I blasted him backwards with my powers. When I moved here I...wrestled, you could say, with my identity. I liked boys. Why did I dress like one? Why...why did I feel so wrong wearing a dress and makeup and long hair? Why couldn't I be a normal girl?" she gasped, stopping to try composing herself.

"Then I met the other heroes. They taught me lessons that held me together. I'm okay. I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me, just like there's nothing wrong with you, and there never will be," she insisted, speaking to the camera like it really was a person, "It doesn't matter what you wear, if people give you a hard time about 'looking like a dyke' then they're idiots and you're better!" she said, practically shouting the words into the world, begging people to listen to her.

"They aren't worth your time because there are too many people in this world who would gladly call you beautiful, whether you're wearing a hero suit or men's sweatpants. It gets better, I promise you, it always gets better!" she screamed, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes as she stumbled through her thoughts, the words spilling from her lips and into the air. Everything was quiet for a minute. She wished she could've been more elegant and composed, like Nathan, instead of an adolescent wreck.

Then the director yelled cut, and she looked over to her group of friends, only to find that Ivan was sprinting for her, practically knocking her back into the chair with the force of his hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her from the ground. Karina and Nathan soon joined him, the three of them encircling Pao-Lin. She pressed her face into Ivan's lean chest and tried not to cry. _You don't have to think about that place anymore. This is home now._

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><p>Feedback is love!<p> 


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